The best third-grade team in world’ loses again

Sunday

Jun 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2008 at 4:17 AM

The Peoria Pirates defense ran into an offense it just couldn’t stop Saturday in an af2 game. It’s own.

Lexington cashed in on an array of Peoria mistakes, what amounted to 28 points produced off one snap, to break open a close game and roll to a 61-33 victory over the Pirates before 3,884 at Carver Arena.

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Dave Eminian

The Peoria Pirates defense ran into an offense it just couldn’t stop Saturday in an af2 game. It’s own.
Lexington cashed in on an array of Peoria mistakes, what amounted to 28 points produced off one snap, to break open a close game and roll to a 61-33 victory over the Pirates before 3,884 at Carver Arena.
Lexington scored on 56-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Chris Royal, a 21-yard fumble recovery run in by 345-pound nose guard Chris Terrell, a 52-yard interception return for TD by Anthony Baldwin, a sack for safety by Jamal Naji, and a fumble recovery by Naji at the Peoria 1 that set up that one-snap TD plunge for quarterback Eddie Eviston.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” Pirates coach Bruce Cowdrey said, delivering a blistering post-game address to his 4-9 team. “They played like the best third-grade team in the world.
“Our defensive backs couldn’t go one-on-one with their shadows and win. Brock and (defensive lineman) Odell Willis competed, were warriors, but we threw two stupid interceptions, had two guys standing under the nets on kick returns — junior high school stuff — and still couldn’t return a kick past our 15.
“We’re just not tough enough emotionally and physically. You can’t make those kind of mistakes and expect to win.”
Peoria receiver Phil Brock Jr. scored four TDs — one by rush — and had seven catches for 131 yards, while teammate De’Tario Frederick added seven catches for 115 yards working with quarterback Donald Carrie in the latter’s first start.
The Horsemen had a pair of receivers in 6-foot-5John Cooper and 6-4, 270-pound Chad Spencer who Peoria’s defensive backs were just too small to cover. They combined for 16 catches, 216 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The Pirates closed to within 15-13 with 1:25 left in the first half when Carrie rolled left out of the pocket, and sent a high arching 31-yard TD to Brock.
“He (Spencer) is such a big body, he’s hard to defend,” said Peoria defensive back Josh Taylor, who broke up five of six passes into the end zone for Spencer in the first half. “We had to play a lot smarter than we did. And we had to get more physical with them.”
Royal fumbled the second half kick off the nets, ran from the middle of the end zone to the sidewall to recover it, broke two tackles between the 5 and 10, then cut across the field and waltzed 56 yards to a TD.
On the next play, Carrie fumbled the snap from center Dan Marshall, and linebacker Justin Komondoras recovered on Peoria’s 1. Eviston surged across seconds later for a 34-13 lead.
Peoria closed to within 34-27 on Brock’s fourth TD of the game, a 13-yard pass from Carrie, with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
But the Horsemen put it away with 9:58 left in the game when Baldwin picked off Carrie’s fourth-down pass in the end zone and sprinted 52 yards to a touchdown down the right boards, weaving between chain gang members who were racing ahead of him in a bid to get out of the way.
“Everyone has to account for themselves,” Brock said. “I had mental errors, too. We can’t beat anyone playing like that. We put our defense in some bad situations.”
BURIED TREASURE: Lexington’s 6-4, 270-pound receiver, Chad Spencer, left the game in the final minute of the second quarter when he ventured through the middle of Peoria’s defense and was de-cleated by linebacker Randy Chappell. ... Former Pirates receiver Charles Sheffield and quarterback Matt Pike were in attendance. ... The Pirates’ Faith & Football pre-game program continues to grow, with 75 high school students attending Saturday’s game.
Dave Eminian can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com.

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